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Chapter Twelve: A Night to Remember - Part I
Chapter 12 A Night to Remember One It was a party, as in, an actual party. Somehow the very same weekend following his return, Mr. Dark-Shades had organized a party of unprecedented glamour and class. Hanging in the background was the soft trill of a nameless classical piece, and the host, and his two hostesses, were dressed in formal attire. In a more detailed address, Mr. Dark-Shades had informed the guests that formal dress was not necessary, but it could be a nice addition to what he had in mind. The mansion was quite befitting of this style. The tables were lined with beverages and snacks, all presented with reservation and care; every liquid was placed within elegantly shaped bottles, accompanied by pristine glassware to accommodate one's drink. It was every bit a fantastical representation of the past, and while it threw off many of the guests, some found it to be surprisingly joyful after a while. The guest list was unmarked, and a surprising number of people had arrived. They all congregated within their own social circles, unsure if there would be a grand event or not. Firstly, you had Mr. Carter, not far from the old record player, and Mr. Alcott and Mr. Frey were nearby. Ms. Serenity was looming over the snacking table, and Ms. Eberhardt was conversing with Ms. Chevalier about their most recent outing. The room was gradually filling with a gentle murmur. Ms. Kirsch arrived along with Ms. Yang, and Ms. Faulkner, finding a spot in the living room to enjoy the music, while examining some of older furniture of the mansion. Ms. Revales showed up as well. Despite the sky clearing, if only for a little while, she hadn't neglected to bring her cherished umbrella. Mr. Swartz was also there, taking his time to converse with all the familiar faces. The petite, adequately dressed Ms. Velqend appeared, finding herself a fine drink, and a place to sit. Even Mr. Karst made an appearance, eventually making his way over to Mr. Carter to converse of recent dealings. Apparently, trouble was afoot. They spoke in low tones, and Mr. Carter's face darkened. He glanced around the party discreetly, but then shrugged, and the man moved on. The host spent his time going from guest to guest, to see how they were, and to ask if they were having a good time. He never focused on one person or group of people, and moved around a lot. It was a great time to mull about, and see all who had come to his little party. So after a half-hour of mingling, he caught their attention at the foot of the stairs. A toast of sorts was bound to be called. "I'm so glad that so many of you were able to make it to this party of mine. While it might not be what you are accustomed to, feel free to look around the mansion. The upstairs is being used for some entertaining games, if you'd like, you may join us there. Now for tonight's guest. Mr. Ner, from the Old Amoria, surely you've heard of him! Now, be merry, and have a good time!" He raised his glass, and so did his guests, roaring with sudden clamor. There at the front door was Mr. Ner, and some of his more appealing employees. The slow paced classical music was somehow replaced with a jazz number, and somehow Mr. Dark-Shades had gotten his hands on a karaoke machine. It attracted the immediate attention of many of the guests. Though as soon as Mr. Dark Shades retreated into his upstairs layer, a number of guests, including Mr. Carter, Ms. Velqend, Mr. Karst, as well as Mr. Alcott and Mr. Frey, followed. When they entered the designated congregation room, they found Nalani already there, sitting in front of a computer screen in the corner. "Ah, gentlemen, and Ms. Velqend. Would you like a seat?" Mr. Dark Shades offered, as there was fine, circular cushioned seating all around a fine wood table. "Shall we play a game, or perhaps just talk?" He asked, and Mr. Carter removed his suit jacket, and pointed a decisive finger at Mr. Dark Shades. "Nice party, but, you have some explaining to do. I've been trying to call you, and you ignored all my messages!" He exclaimed, and the other man sighed, eying Mr. Alcott and Mr. Frey expectantly. From the floor below they could hear the unmistakable sound of Minnie the Moocher. Mr. Dark Shades tapped his fingers on the table, and nodded. "Yes, I know. I must apologize for that. I was hoping you'd come to chew me out, because I have some information I might want to share. Seeing Mr. Karst here leads me to believe that you've heard of my recent exploits." Mr. Carter nodded. "The break in at the dorm you mean?" Ms. Velqend looked between the two, and then set down a briefcase she had removed from beneath the table. "Let's play while you two...discuss things." She offered, opening the case, revealing a set of tiles. "Mahjong? Sounds good to me. We won't bother with the seating." As the girl began to set up the tiles, the discussion continued. "It's just amazing! We all have these super powers and yet...some people don't? I don't understand! Are you guys just hiding them for some reason? Why would you do that?" Mr. Carter didn't like the idea of people sulking in the background. If they had a problem, they should get it out in the open, where they could deal with it. "I assure you, I'm not hiding anything like that. But not even you can deny the fact that there is an enemy out there. My discretion was only a precaution, and look what I found." He retrieved a slip of paper that replicated the hit list given to Erik Heiden by his mysterious benefactors. Mr. Carter examined the document carefully. "This doesn't make any sense. Why go after these people...?" He asked and the Dark Shades smiled. The tiles had been set up, and the game was beginning. "I assume, that none of them are directly associated with your 'league of heroes'. This is probably more akin to a recruitment list, than an assassination list. But there must be some incentive for them to join...if they refuse, can they really just leave? While the powers may seem infantile at this point, I believe that the ringleader of this organization has a higher grasp on what's going on." A cell phone was ringing inside the room, and while everyone was checking to see if it was theirs, it was Nalani who answered. "Excuse me, I'll be going now" She said quietly, leaving the room. They watched as she left, and they continued their conversation. "Wait...you knew about the powers before summer break?" Mr. Carter had put two and two together, as Mr. Dark Shades has insinuated, his reclusiveness was a precaution, presumably against the powers. "More or less...you could say that someone is using their power on me." He stated, drawing a tile, and smiling softly as he discarded. "What? Someone's using their power on you?" Mr. Carter asked, looking quizzically down at his hand, it wasn't really coming together, and it didn't help that Ms. Velqend had completed hers on his discard. They shuffled the tiles, and began again. "Maybe. As you can see, I'm not wearing my shades right now. It lets me see more clearly the things that are before me. That is why, right now in this room, I can see how powerful everyone is." The room grew ominously quiet for a time. "Whoa...really?" Mr. Carter asked, looking between the others in the room. "Who's the strongest one here?" He asked suddenly, and Mr. Dark Shades laughed. "That would be telling, Mr. Carter...that would be telling!" It seemed that during their conversation, Mr. Frey, and Mr. Alcott had fallen into a mysterious lull of silence. Only until Mr. Dark Shades had mentioned the strongest of all, did Mr. Alcott come to life. "Aha! Why do you even need to ask! I'm the strongest one clearly!" He said flexing his muscles. "Wouldn't that be something?" Ms. Velqend chimed in, looking pleasantly at her own hand. "You're just jealous because you don't have any power at all!" Mr. Carter returned with yet another attempt at poking her side, which she managed to avoid. "Ah, Mr. Frey? Are you awake?" Just as Mr. Dark Shades inquired, there was a soft rumbling heard in the distance. At first they thought it was thunder, and continued playing. Then there was an abrupt stop to the music downstairs, and the lights flickered for just a moment, and then they returned. "Is it storming out?" Mr. Carter asked, and then there was a thumping upon the stairs. It was Ms. Chevalier, standing in the doorway looking a bit distraught. "Zach! Someone came, and took that girl! I don't know who, but they just barged right in!" She was out of breath, and he stood up suddenly. "What? Who?" He asked, and Mr. Dark Shades raised his hand. "She probably means my friend, Akeia. Though I'm surprised...the enemy knows that someone has the ability of future sight...you think they wouldn't try something like that?" He informed, and Mr. Carter's brow furrowed. "Wait...someone you know has a power? It's that Akeia girl isn't it! Or is it Nalani..." Still, he remained standing, and Ms. Velqend looked expectantly at the already placed tiles. "If you recall, Akeia is on the list..." He pointed at the piece of paper still resting on the table, "if anyone has a power, it'd be her." He stated calmly. "How can you be so calm about this? Isn't she your friend? Don't you want to do something to save her?" He asked, and Mr. Dark Shades shook his head. "What can I do? If I started panicking, I wouldn't think straight, I'd make a mistake. Sure, I consider her my friend. Though, I also think of it this way. If the powers didn't exist, she'd still get in trouble. She'd still do things that would irritate me. I used to bail her out of trouble when we were little kids, but now, she's an adult. She can take care of herself. I don't know my enemy very well. I'd ask you for your help in retrieving her but...I'd feel bad sending my friends out blindly to do a job I wish I could." As the Dark Shades spoke, he kept his eyes on the tiles, trying not to look at anyone in particular. Ms. Velqend waited patiently in her seat. "Do you think they would harm her? It doesn't seem that they'd be the sort to do that." She added, but Mr. Dark Shades was not convinced. "Ryan! I will go and vanquish this enemy of yours!" Mr. Alcott stated boldly, and it seemed that Mr. Frey was finally getting up, stretching out his arms. "Yea boy. Let's do it." He said, following his roommate down the stairs after Ms. Chevalier. Mr. Carter hung around for a moment. He was torn between what he wanted to say. "Why don't you come with?" He asked eventually, hoping to his give his friend some kind of role in this task. "Don't forget, I'm on the list too. I wish I could help, but I'd only get in your way. This isn't some kind of show, where the heroes always win. You know that, right? It's best to play it safe when your life is on the line." The young man hesitated. Eventually, he looked at Mr. Karst. "You should consider coming too. Your power could be useful in finding out where they are." The large man nodded, and followed Mr. Carter out of the room. With that, only Ms. Velqend and Mr. Dark Shades remained. "I think it'll be okay" She stated in her usual neutral tone. "Oh, I know it will. Did you think I was bluffing?" He asked, turning to her slowly, and she offered him a slightly devious smile. "Did you think I'd leave you alone?" She replied, and on the stairs, the sound of someone approaching could be heard. * * * A flurry of the guests emerged suddenly from the house, with Zach at the forefront, entering his car with a number of people, including Jerome, and Serah. Fitzgerald was following him on his motorcycle, and Lydia was following them as well. "Serah, tell me exactly what happened." Zach requested as they zoomed down the road. "Um, a young man came in, he was a graduate student I think, someone a bit older than us. He came right in, all casual like, and grabbed that girl, Akeia? And then ran off with her. They just vanished, and Kiki chased after them." She replied. "What? Hold on, someone's calling me." He picked up his phone. It was very windy wherever the person was, and at first he had a hard time understanding who it was that he was talking to. "Zach, we found the place they took her." It was Raye, from what he gathered. "What? How? Tell me where! We're on our way!" He exclaimed. "It's by the old lot where you guys train? I don't know, but it's in this old warehouse, kind of where your shop is." He hung up his phone. "Okay, apparently, Raye and Kiki are there now. It's at an old warehouse, call Lydia and let her know." They were about to prepare for a fight, a very dangerous fight from the sounds of it. It was late, and dark outside. The gray clouds were still hovering above, despite how thin the air had become over the past couple of days. The mellow lull they had slipped into was suddenly broken. They were marching unmistakably into a showdown. A row of tall, square, unmarked buildings rested on the edge of the river bank. A high bridge spanned over the water, and a thick levy dam loomed in the distance. The red lights flashed periodically, and all else was dark. The clouds overhead parted slightly, revealing the quarter moon, and veiled stars. It was next to a train yard, and when they emerged, a long lonely whistle howled in the distance. From the shadows, Kiki and Raye emerged, still dressed in their formal party attire. "This is the place?" Zach asked quietly, the adrenaline had left him somewhat, in the presence of such an ominous place. "Yes, we saw that girl fly over here, and we followed her." Raye informed. "A girl?" Serah asked. "Yeah, the one with the pink hair? I don't know her name." Zach nodded, it had to have been Nalani, but, how did she know where this place was? "Is she here now?" He asked, and the two girls shrugged. "She dropped out of sight and we sort of had to land..." Kiki looked over shoulder towards the river, and then shrugged. "I don't know how useful we will be for combat, but..." Zach stopped her short. "It's fine, we've got plenty of power here!" He exclaimed, and it wasn't even an understatement. Already the core members of his unnamed league were with him. Serah had strong wind powers. Vance had incredible blinding skills. Dysley was, well, better when given attention, and Jerome could always heal them if something went wrong. Then there was the unknown backup support they received. Mr. Karst was good with the earth, from what he had said before. From Lydia's car, only her and Eliza emerged, but he had heard they were making great progress on their own skills as well. The biggest unknown still rested before them. Who was it they were about to face? From a logical standpoint, Zach concluded that the kidnapper was probably able to teleport, with some limitation. Every power had a limitation after all. So they began their rescue mission, carefully navigating the empty, gravelly yard en route to the large warehouse where apparently their enemy lay in wait. They were just a hundred or so yards away from the building when Mr. Karst suddenly held out his hand, to stop Zach from stepping forward. The group stopped, as the man bent down, and with his power, gently brushed away the ground where Zach was about to step. A mysterious looking circular plate rested there, with a tiny flashing light on its side. "Stand back..." He advised, and from an adequate distance away, he launch a collected ball of rock and dirt at the plate, and instantly it exploded. It wasn't a huge explosion, given the size of the object. "You got to be kidding me! This whole yard could be rigged with explosives!" Serah stated, looking around suspiciously. "I will find them all" Fitzgerald reassured, and with great effort, he was able to push back an entire layer of dirt with a strenuous wave of his arms, revealing a number of spread out plates, each flashing with anticipation. No doubt the first explosion had unintentionally brought attention upon them, but they progressed through the minefield with care. Yet before they could reach the building a figure emerged suddenly before them, throwing a number of dark objects at the uncovered mines beside them. With a little bit of luck, and some fine reaction time on Mr. Karst's part, the group was shielded from most of the shrapnel. A thin wall of earth was pulled around them, but it left them sputtering and confused. "Vance, give us a light!" Zach called out as best he could, and soon a dim light shone around the group, also unveiling their mysterious attacker. Standing before them was a man dressed in normal street clothes. From his jeans pocket hung a golden pocket watch, which he checked periodically. "An interesting power you have there! But, it's my job to prevent you from interfering, or something cool like that." He said, gesturing to the building behind him. "What the hell?" Zach wasn't sure what to expect, but already things were much more difficult than he originally thought. These guys weren't like Kang Gum-Young. They were professional. No doubt this man was a power user as well. If only the Dark Shades had come with, he could have told them how powerful this adversary was! "I'll create a path for some of you to get in" Fitzgerald whispered to Zach, and while he didn't like dividing their forces, it seemed now that time was important. "Get ready to run..." He instructed, and raising his hands, Mr. Karst created a path leading straight to the warehouse. "I won't let you!" The pocket watch man exclaimed throwing his strange darts at the mines, causing them to blow up around the carved path the others were trying to follow. Vance directed his light towards the man, causing him to shield his eyes, giving them just enough time to reach the warehouse proper. A loud explosion echoed in response, and they turned to see just a cloud of dirt settling behind them. They couldn't see Mr. Karst, or his attacker, but suddenly, the path swerved to the only visible door, and cracked it open, allowing them entrance to the warehouse. The dirt settled, and Mr. Karst was already breathing heavily from his work. His opponent had managed to avoid hitting his own mines, and had recovered his vision. Now they stood facing each other, eyes matched, and faces stern. "I can only assume that you know what you're getting into, right?" The man asked, and Mr. Karst tightened his fists. "All too well."